PHOENIX - Have you noticed “a musty, earthy” smell coming from your tap water?
That’s how Troy Hayes, the assistant Water Services director from the City of Phoenix, described the smell.
The question easily sparked conversation on social media.
Some people from different parts of the Valley saying their water tastes awful and smells like sewage.
"It's [an] algae-type compound that comes out with surface waters,” said Hayes, which is rain runoff and melted snow that ends up in the Salt River.
12 News confirmed with SRP that this year the algae bloom is way higher than normal—but it’s something that happens to our water supply ever year.
This time around, the Salt River got almost double the amount of runoff it normally gets—almost 1 million compared to 550,000 acre feet—breaking a six-year, below-average streak.
More water brings extra organic matter, which means more fuel for algae growth, and, while the water is treated for algae and other things, the stench remains.
"[The water] meets or exceeds all water quality standards that we have to achieve,” he said.
Meantime, try using your own filters, chilling the water before drinking it, adding lemon or buying bottled water.
But the tap is SAFE TO USE.
A representative from SRP said the company is going to start pulling some water from the Verde River next week, because It's less affected by algae growth
They'll do a complete river swap—from Salt River to Verde River—by the end of October.
So you should start noticing an improvement in the coming weeks.